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Return often to watch the stories from others.

Remember the words Maj. Michael Davis O'Donnell wrote about fallen comrades before he himself died in action: "If you are able, save for them a place inside of you and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go …. Take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind."

A Salute to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

• The idea for the memorial came to veteran Jan Scruggs in 1979 when he suffered from flashbacks after watching the movie The Deer Hunter.

• A total of $15 million was raised with help from a direct marketing campaign led by Stephen A. Cone, now AARP’s executive vice president of Integrated Value and Strategy.

• Critics found the black-granite design by Yale University student Maya Lin too abstract. Today, The Wall draws 4.5 million visitors annually and is one of the capital’s most popular sites. Lin, now 52, is focused on what she calls her “final memorial,” a series of art installations titled “What Is Missing?”

• Only eight women are listed on The Wall. About 10,000 served as nurses in Vietnam.

• A November ceremony breaks ground for an $83 million education center at The Wall.